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Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Well, not much to post this first week. As usual, the beginning of a low buy makes you want to buy everything! However, I am sure that will pass, as it did last time. I hope. I think with the money I save I am going to take a few makeup classes at KRYOLAN, they are starting up again for the year and they look interesting. Instead of buying makeup I will learn different ways to use it! :-)

Purchase Total: $0

Money in Makeup Bank before purchases: $0Money after purchases: $0Week 1 GoalsGoal 1: Winter cleaning. I cleaned out A LOT. Donated 3 boxes of books to the thrift store and 4 bags/boxes of art supplies to children's group homes. Switched up my makeup storage to make room, organized a bit more. *COMPLETED* +$5

Goal 2: De-stash. Organized new makeup and got rid of old makeup and will add a blog post this week for items to swap/sell. *COMPLETED* +$5

Writing/Blogging. Two blog posts. +$8

Art. None.

Reading.I finished Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison +5 and The Kite Runner +5

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Selling these all BNIB, will lower prices for combining items, may be flexible on price, make me an offer. I will also add on 3% for paypal fees if gift option isn't used. Here is the picture http://imgur.com/5JpR7uU

*Sugarpill Cold Chemistry Palette $30 shipped

*Anastasia Beverly Hills Hypercolor Powder in RED $10 shipped

*Cult Nails Love at First Sight and top coat(prefer to sell together) $15 shipped

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Much like my no/low-buy last year, which you can find HERE or search PROJECT NO BUY, I am going to try to cut back on buying and spending on beauty related items. Last year it was a 100 day no/low-buy, This year I am going to extend it, around June I will see where I am with it and possibly take it further, depending on how much I have saved. I had a specific goal in mind as far as what I was saving towards last year, this year I don't have a huge goal per say, one may come up during it, so I'll see! I would love to save up for some really nice brushes.

Project No-Buy Goals

Instead of a traditional no-buy, I'm still following the project created last year by Darkside of Beauty to 1) finish makeup I currently own, 2) not horde so much new makeup, 3) to keep up with my 2014 resolutions and 4) save money for something else. I will be updating this project every Sunday. If you are curious about the No-Buy project or if you also want to be part of it, keep reading!

Rules

As of January 6th, 2014 I will not be allowed to buy any beauty related products, unless...1. the product is an absolute essential (shampoo/conditioner, cleanser, deodorant...etc.) and I have run out.2. I run out of a product and I have nothing else to replace it (ex: I run out of my current eyeshadow primer and I have no other primers in my collection)3. I receive a gift card, money or am gifted makeup and therefore am not spending any of my own money on it.4. Monthly subscriptions and a cpuple products I have been waiting to get before this year- Sugarpill Sparkle Baby palette and BFTE Steampunk collection. Getting these I hope will deter me from buying other things also.5. If I am in a place that I usually never go and has products that I am otherwise never able to get (ex: if i am traveling to another country or go to a store that is not available close to me).6. They are giveaway prizes or gifts!*Remember that I have tons of products that I purchased before now that I have yet to show on my blog! Keep that in mind with any upcoming posts! I will be honest with all of you on this project; I gain nothing from lying to you guys! This also gives a a chance to talk about some of my favorite permanent products and re-discover lots of items!

Although I am calling this a "No-Buy", I am making some exceptions for myself. These are rewards for myself for 1) following the no-buy, 2)following weekly goals, and 3) sticking to my 2014 resolutions.

1. Weekly Goals. Every week (on Sunday) I will set two goals for myself. Each of these goals should be met by the end of the week. If the goal is met, I will award myself $5 of allowance for makeup (therefore, I have a possibility of earning $10 per week). If I do not met either of them, then I get $0 of spending money.

2. Blogging and Writing. One of my goals(again) this year is to write more consistently, which also includes my blogging. I started this blog for many reasons, I love beauty products, for one but I also love fashion, art, photography, writing, etc. I consider all of these things as part of beauty, not just how we look but who we are inside. I want to push myself to do more. So for every blog post I will award myself $4. For other writing(essay, poem, story, etc) I will award myself $1 a page, so if I write a 3 page essay I will get $3, a poem, $1 and so on.

3. Art. This may sound like an odd goal, but art used to be a huge part of my life, and it's slowly taken a back seat to so many things. I really slacked on it last year, so this year I am going to try again! Painting, drawing, photography, sewing are all things I used to do consistently. So for every piece I do, or if I create something I will award myself $5.

5. Reading. I love to read but tend to do it in "spurts," meaning I will read voraciously for a week or two, a ton of books and then go back to nothing. I would like to be more consistent, because I love reading, I just tend to get side tracked. I did really well for most of last year then I didn't read much the last 3 months. So for anything under 200 pages, $4, between 200-500, $5 and over 500 pages, $8.

6. Empties and De-stash

It is great to finish a product, especially products you don't particularly care for that are just taking up space. Therefore, for any empty product I have, I will award myself $2 of makeup allowance. It's also a good idea to get rid of items that you don't use/just didn't work for you. De-stashing and selling them is a great way to earn back some of that money you spent, and put it towards something you will use, so any money I earn from de-stashing can go towards my makeup fund.

7. Self-Control.

This is not really a reward, but a punishment. If I don't follow my no-buy, then I will get negative cash for whatever amount I spent. For example, if I buy a $10 product when I have no reward allowance to spend, then I will subtract double the amount I spent on my total reward allowance, in this case being -$20. This means my allowance will be in a negative number and I will have to work even harder to have money to spend on makeup the following weeks.

During the week's update on Sunday, I will let you know whether I have kept up with my No-buy for that week, show you products I've used up, and update you and show you if I have earned any money through the rewards system. If, for example, I meet both of my weekly goals for that week ($10), perhaps read a 300 page novel ($4), and blogged three times that week($6), then that means I earned $2 worth of makeup allowance that week. Then that means that starting Monday after the update, I can buy makeup with my $20 allowance.Any makeup I buy using this allowance will be shown during that week's update.

The reward money does carry over to the weeks following if I do not spend it. So If I had $20 and only spent $10 that week, then I will have $10 left over. Then I can add onto that any new allowance I get from the following weeks. I am going to call this my Make-Up Account since it is essentially the money I have to buy makeup. None of my other money will go into makeup/beauty products. This will help me save up for collections I am waiting for, and hopefully help me plan what I purchase better, instead of automatically buying what I see. For instance, I know I am really going to want some of the items from the MAC Maleficent collection coming out, I know it's going to take a few weeks of saving for it, so before I go out and spend say the $20 I earned over two weeks on something I don't need, I'll be more inclined to stop myself from purchasing it, knowing I really want that palette when it comes out so I better not spend what's in my makeup account. :-) I think it actually helps to see the value of a dollar this way.

This is a bit confusing, but basically what I am trying to do is to control the amount of makeup I buy, not completely stop it. Not only can I more efficiently control the amount of makeup I buy, but I can also become a more knowledgeable person when it comes to my own finances, wise purchasing and researching a product.

If you have any questions or want any clarifications please leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Weekly Goals for 1/8:

Winter cleaning. I need to go through my shelvings of stuff and finally get rid and donate things I don't use, including books, art supplies, etc. (I'll try to take pics so I can share just how much it was needed!)

De-stash. Beginning of the new year and it's time to go through and throw out old makeup and sell/swap stuff I don't use. I will post the de-stash on here and most likely reddit and Specktra for those interested.

Wish List: Currently I do not have much of a wish list, primarily to pay off old bills and save up. Maybe a few months down the road I'd like to get a couple nice brushes.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Well another year's gone by, too fast. The second half of the year was so busy I pretty much fell of the face of the blogging/internet planet. My goals for 2014 is to try to start again, with a little more motivation and a fresh outlook, we'll see what happens!

A little list to start off slowly...

Low-buy 2014! Yes, it is time once again for me to pull in the reigns and stop the excess buying that seemed to have taken over the last half of 2013. Buy less and shop my stash. I am not going to delude myself into thinking I can buy nothing, but I am going to try to return to the guidelines I followed at the beginning of last year. I will blog my adventure so everyone can follow along...and join in if you like!

More posts! I have joined a group of like-minded ladies and hopefully they will give me the little extra motivation to post consistently.